No-bel, No-bel!

Sheldon and Barry “Kripke” had to work together to write a
grant proposal for the University. Sheldon laments the opportunity, only to
find his arrogance is, for the first time, displaced; Kripke’s research surpasses
his in “leaps and bounds. His grief can’t be consoled by cocoa or boa constrictor hugs.

“The University is forcing me to work with Kripke, I’m outraged.”
“So…cocoa?”
“Ooh, cocoa!”
-- Leonard and Sheldon

The episode consists of Sheldon pulling all the stops not going in to work that
a ten-year-old might to keep from school…and Leonard unleashes his inner
mother-to-the-smartest-scientist-in-the-university.Sheldon might have been nervous facing his predecessor, but
he likely didn’t expect to be nervous about Kripke’s “simple” solution: that
being with his girlfriend Amy’s keeping his head in the clouds. Or at least,
not focused in his work.

I like that Sheldon stuck with the fib, in that it led to a
lot of honest character insight. He doesn’t like touching people, and he’s working on it. Serious matters in the
Big Bang Theory.
Much like how badly he needs to learn how to “brofist” someone. We need a
Barney Stinson in here.

Dually, Howard and Raj spend a thousand dollars on replica
action figures, only to find they’re a little less-than. To solve the problem,
Raj suggests spending a lot of money on a 3D-printer (with or without a
hyphen). Because Howard worked hard to marry a woman with a lot of money.

The dolls work, but convincing THE doll doesn’t. Howard’s
left at the end of the episode with a machine to return and a wife to try and
return to. I think he would have done a lot better on his side if he’d
explained what ELSE he could have used the printer for, but Bernadette made her
point clear: being the breadwinner doesn’t entitle Howard to her cash, married
or not. Another poignant lesson learned.

Now I wonder where these filler episodes seem to be leading.
I think the parts were put in motion…much like a really cool train. We just
need them to get chugging!